To my Carl...

We met on this day, ten years ago. And life has never been more beautiful.


I'm so glad I'm on this adventure with you.

With all my love,
Your Ellie

Reality bites.

Found this on PostSecret this week:

photo borrowed from postsecret.blogspot.com

And the song goes, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

Sad, but true.

I did it!

I have always, always wanted to come up with my own food review blog. Since dining out and discovering places to chow are fave hobbies of my beau and myself, I thought, why not write about my gastronomic experiences? Initially, I wanted the blog to focus not only on restos but on hotels as well, since I share a passionate affair with hotels and everything that makes them divine. But checking in just to blog is kinda expensive for this radio deejay's meager salary. So food it is! I am procrastinating no more. After years of wanting to do this, I finally made it happen.

Check out my new blog and my very first feature. I hope that, in time, it turns out to be something like Julie Powell's. Baby steps, m'dear.

Join me as I chronicle the mini-adventures of a girl who loves to EAT & TELL - yours truly.

:)

Hells wedding bells!

Filipinos are known for having extravagant weddings. Huge ceremonies held in cathedrals, with hotel ballroom receptions housing a multitude of guests. Immediate family members, relatives, distant relatives, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, government officials, strangers. True, occasions like these seem festive, happy, colorful. Personally, though, I also think it too loud, and the intimacy that a wedding ceremony should have gets lost in the crazy, busy fanfare. The wedding ceremony becomes a carnival instead of a celebration of love.

I remember my good friend Jada telling me, "A wedding ceremony is really just something you do for your family and not for yourself." If this is always the case, then I would rather become one of those couples who never get married but live together, have kids and have wonderful relationships. What is getting married for anyway? Why do we do it for other people when the sole reason for this union is because two individuals love each other and want to spend their lives together 'til death do them part?

Frankly, it doesn't make any sense to me. I've attended big, big weddings, with hundreds of guests who barely know each other and, in some unfortunate cases, barely know the bride and groom as well. Where is the intimacy in that? Why invite guests who don't truly care for you, and some don't even know you?

That's the reason why the dream wedding I have envisioned in my head is very small, very intimate and only involves my beau and myself, our immediate families, and the very select and few relatives and friends who sincerely care for us. Why do I have to invite a distant relative who can't even remember my full name, or has totally forgotten my existence in the family tree? It's not being selfish. It's being real. I want my wedding to be intimate. And intimacy only exists among people who genuinely love and care for one another. No hypocrisy. I want my wedding to be true in every sense. True to the word love. True to the word care. True to the word family. True to the word togetherness. I want my wedding to be a celebration of love, not a show staged merely to entertain a cold audience.

Two people decide to get married because, somewhere in the chaos of this mad world, they've found true love and can no longer imagine themselves living a single day apart. Isn't it absolutely sensible to celebrate this romantic union, this magical occurrence, with people closest to their hearts, people who have been witnesses to their love story, people who would shed sincere tears of joy while watching them exchange vows and kiss?

Some would probably say I'm selfish and crazy. Some would think I'm a hopeless romantic. I'd like to think I'm being real. If you can bear with the thought of inviting someone who doesn't care about you to such a momentous event in your life, then by all means go ahead. Whatever floats your boat. But I want my boat to carry only those who truly, truly love me.

My 31st Mad Hatter Birthday Lunch

Yes, folks, this girl is now thirty-one years old. Lucky enough to be blessed with looks that make me seem a few years younger. I always throw a little get-together at work each year. This year, to mark my last year on the calendar, I wanted to make things a tad different. A Mad Hatter birthday lunch. The mini-party was held yesterday at the Wave 891 office, attended by my fellow jocks, the Wave staff, my siblings and my fiance Alvin. Oh, what fun!

What made the whole event more interesting was the photobooth! My buddy Jada has a photobooth business, Litrato Juan. As a birthday present, she brought one of her booths to the station, absolutely free! Wheee! Many thanks and lotsa love to you, mare. Now I have awesome photos to show!











More photos on my Facebook account (for friends) or the Litrato Juan site.

Awesome party! I know the rest of my year will be filled with adventures and experiences as fun and colorful as these pictures. Looking forward! But first, lemme blow 'em 31 candles on my cake.

:)

Wave 891 is turning 9!

The metro's most influential R&B station has reached another milestone - 9 years, baby! And boy, are we feeling lucky this year! We're inviting you to party with us. Let's celebrate!




We're bringing 9 lucky listeners and their plus ones up to the VIP floor to party like celebrities! How to be part of that lucky 9 group? Tune in for more details.

:)

Love is all you need.

Valentine weekend's PostSecret was a collection of "awww" moments and statements. These two touched my heart the most:




They say dance like there's no tomorrow. Same goes for love. Show the people you love how much they mean to you. Another day on earth is never really guaranteed. So while you still can, give love!

It's easy to declare words of love every single moment of your life to your significant other. The two people we tend to take for granted are our parents. Dad and Mom are always there, and in our minds we think they always will be. Oftentimes we get so immersed in our own lives that we forget to say "I love you" and "Thank you" to the two people who will definitely stick with you through thick and thin. And on this note, I say, "Daddy, Mommy, no other parent can ever, ever come close to you."


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Love that lasts through thick and thin is this:





This one got me teary-eyed. Call me a hopeless romantic but I always love a happy ending. Now I know marriages don't always end in a crescendo with flowers and rainbows and hearts and happy children. But I also know that it is possible. My parents have been together for 31 years, and you'll still see them holding hands in public, or you'll see my dad with his arm around my mom's shoulder. My Lolo Efren and Lola Gaya have stayed together until Lola passed away. Lolo never remarried, and up until the day he died, he would always tell us that Lola was the most beautiful girl in their school. I learned from their story that it is possible for love to last forever. It's a rough and winding road, marriage is. But I believe that faith in God, in love and in each other will see you through.

The month of hearts ain't over yet, so spread the love, y'all! After all, John Lennon was right. Love is all you need.

:)

He amazes me...

...his patience and understanding are astounding. When everyone else have turned their backs away because of my bitchiness, he smiles and holds me close and whispers calmly to my ear. He is the anchor that holds me steady. He is the wind that helps me soar through the skies. He is the star that keeps me from getting lost. In his arms, I am home.




Happy Valentine's Day to you - the man who holds my heart forever.

Yes!

I don't make resolutions for the New Year. But this 2010, I decided to follow one. I told myself I wouldn't say no to voicing auditions. We (voice talents) get called to try out for radio and tv commercials, AVPs and other projects. Sometimes it really gets tiring to go to these auditions. I always tell myself, "Why audition? They already have my voice file."

But since I wanted to face this new year with a more positive outlook, I have decided NOT to say no. You know what? It's working for me! I got chosen in the two projects I've auditioned for. So far, I already voiced two RCs, one TVC and an IVRS. Plus the plugs I do for Abs-Cbn Publishing. And it's just the start of the year! Exciting! Ooh la la, I can feel all the good things ready to flow in!

It's like playing Jim Carrey's role in Yes Man! But not overdoing it, of course. I'm gonna live by that positive word all throughout the year - YES!

:)

Bora Bora!

And so finally, the outing that took eight years in the making pushed through. The whole Wave 891 family flew to Boracay for a much-deserved weekend vacay. Would you believe that was our very first out-of-town company trip? Anyway, we're just happy we finally went to the beach together - the jocks, the AEs, the technicians, the spinners, the management team. Saya!

With my roommates on our last day in Bora: Wave jocks Jason, Anne, Jada and AEs James and Czar

So even if we were very badly inconvenienced by Z-Air (I will diss some more at the end of this post), and even if we weren't able to parasail and go island hopping, we still had an awesome time. 'Til the next outing! When? Geez...I really don't know.

:)


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We came up with a new tagline for the airline that took us to Bora:

"Z-Air. Where your inconvenience is our #1 priority!"

Okay, this is why we are pissed with this God-forsaken airline. Our flight to Boracay was delayed three effin' times! We were there (well, at least majority of my officemates were. I was late. Tee-hee!) two hours before the scheduled 12:20PM flight. What time did we leave Manila? 2:45PM!

!*@*#! (String of profanities here.)

And this is why that delay really ticked us off big time. We were gonna land in Kalibo! There was still that 2-hour ride to the pier before the 20-minute ferry trip to our destination.

!*@*#! (Profanities yet again.)

When we finally got to the hotel, it was dark and drizzling and we were all dead tired. Day 1 in Bora was totally wasted. Boo!

But wait, there's more! They were thoughtful enough to think of feeding the passengers they already pissed off. Lo and behold! The meals were like rations. Three to four measly pieces of pork and a cup of plain rice. We took one look at it and went, "Sinong binaha?"

You think the story ends there? Think again. Going back to Manila, our flight got delayed...AGAIN! Susmaryosep!

Our verdict: The award for Major Loser Airline goes to...(drumroll)...YOU!

In fairness, it was a smooth flight. But then again, that all depends on weather conditions.

On a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to El Paso, I remember the attendant saying this over his microphone:

"We know you have plenty of choices when flying. Thank you very much for choosing Southwest."

We do have a lot of choices. It should be an honor if the client chooses you. So if you want the zest zapped out of your vacation, you already know what airline to choose.